Blogs and Commentary

U.S. U19 Team Blog: Madison Acton

Madison Acton, a midfielder for Team USA, chimes in with her
experiences from the 2011 FIL U19 Women's World
Championship:

This is my first time going to Europe so I was extremely excited
just to come here, and also the World Championship is an amazing
thing.

The actual traveling – yes, it was difficult, because it
was an eight-and-a-half hour plane ride and then a layover, but the
whole time, you’re just anticipating coming here and the
games starting. So it’s been exciting, but sleep deprivation
was a little bit of a problem at the beginning. We all woke up a
little bit grumpy but excited to be here, and then we had to wait a
couple days, and everyone was just looking forward to this day, our
first game. So there was a LOT of anticipation – everyone
from home was asking “How are the games going? When are they
starting?!” And we were like, “Ahhhh, not yet!”
so having this first game was so great. It’s what we’ve
been working for for a whole year, so to come out and have a win
was amazing and it really sets the tone for the rest of the
tournament.

The opening ceremonies were amazing. It was so much fun being
next to Wales in the parade of nations. We call them our sister
team. We just love them. We went to their game today and we did all
these cheers that they taught us yesterday, and then they came to
our game today and were cheering for us, which was exciting.

I think my most exciting moment had to be opening ceremonies
when we walked in and they played the national anthem for us as a
team. It was really just an eye-opening moment and I was like,
“I’m really here, and this is really happening.”
It was special. It was emotional. The balloon release was really
cool, too.

Team Japan, they were different and unexpected. Yes, they were
playing lacrosse out there, but they were playing SUCH a different
way than anything I’ve ever experienced before. You would
mark them and think, “Oh, there’s no way this girl is
getting the ball right now.” And then they’d pass it to
her! And I’d be like, “What?” They play a lot
differently than we do, and it was a shock at the beginning to hear
them speak in another language. A lot of us were just running
around, and at one point, Barbara Sullivan, she took us in and
said, “Guys, I know that we’re all really surprised and
thrown off by the fact that they’re speaking a different
language, and their play is so different, but we’re better
than them. We’re stronger and we just need to play our
game.” I thought it was really great that she brought us in
and did that. Then, in my mind, I was like, “Oh, right.
We’re just playing lacrosse! I know what I’m
doing.”